EFCC: Remembering the originators

Until the recent haul of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 found hidden inside an apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, it was becoming increasingly difficult keeping tabs with the amount of suspected looted funds being discovered in the country almost on a daily basis. Just when one is digesting an unbelievable haul another would emerge; and on and on goes these endless madness and shows of shame. The Ikoyi recoveries were valued at N13 billion based on prevailing exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Nigeria

How do one even begin to try to make meaning of what is happening in the country? It gets increasingly difficult for even the staunchest optimist on Nigeria to begin to piece together the direction the country is heading. However, all what we are experiencing today about suspected looted funds would not have been possible had there not been an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The controversies – in some quarters – over its perceived lopsided anti-corruption war aside, most Nigerians would agree that the commission is doing a good job sniffing out suspected looted public funds.

It is in this light that I want to bend backwards today by remembering the originators of what is today the EFCC. I am doing this against the backdrop of the need to always acknowledge – and even reward where necessary – patriotic individuals who may have undertaken endeavours that are having positive impact in the polity today.

What is today the EFCC emanated from a proposal sent to former President Olusegun Obasanjo barely two months into his first term on July 19, 1999. Two Nigerians were the authors of this proposal; Dr. Dan Mou, a distinguished scholar and retired director from the civil service and Dr. Rose Abang-Wushishi, a retired assistant inspector general of police.

“Proposal for the establishment of a National Economic and Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency” was written by the authors as a reaction to “the growing negative impact of economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.”

As a result of their detailed proposal and their firm grasp of the issues on ground, President Obasanjo approved the memo and forwarded it to late Chief Bola Ige, the then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice who promptly summoned Drs. Mou and Abang-Wushishi to personally commend them for their thorough proposal which the president had approved for implementation. As a result of their thoroughness, I was made to understand that the late Ige promised to make Abang-Wushishi the first Chairman and Mou the first Director General.

In order to fast track the process of setting up the commission, the late Chief Bola Ige set up a committee chaired by professor Ignatius Ayua, then Director General, Nigerian Institute of Legal Studies to formulate the drafting mandate for the production of the draft bill for the proposed agency. This draft bill was to be sent to the National Assembly for the enactment of the relevant Act to set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Again, Prof Ayua summoned the authors to be members of the committee since they were the originators. There, they threw more light on what inspired them to author the proposal. Strangely, no reference was made about them again after the Act for the commission was passed by the National Assembly and it was subsequently created. Could it have been as a result of the assassination of Chief Bola Ige?

Trying to make meaning of the development, Mou wrote: “Typically, as things happen in Nigeria, other officers that knew nothing about how the EFCC came about were appointed to run the affairs of the EFCC; and we were completely sidelined. I recall Dr. Abang-Wushishi was so disturbed that she protested to former President Obasanjo. As a compromise, she was made a member, and later, Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and I was posted to the Ministry of Defence to take charge as the Director of Nigeria Air Force.”

I met Dr. Dan Mou on these pages when he reacted to one of my articles “Books on my Mind” published on November 12, 2015. “I find your article in The Nation of November 12, 2015 quite illuminating and praise worthy” he wrote. “I don’t care how voluminous provided there is a lot to learn from them. The books you selected were truly excellent. In this regard, I urge you to get and read my two recent books: “Making of an African Giant: State, Politics and Public Policy In Nigeria Vol 1 & 2 (2015).”

Just when I was trying to place order for the books, I travelled to Abuja for an official trip and gave Dr. Mou – who has since became a fan and mentor – a call. I was surprised to get two autographed copies of his over 800 page books. That was how an intellectual friendship began and how I got to know that beyond the EFCC proposal Dr. Mou has authored series of memos – both private and public – to successive Heads of State and Presidents. These are found as appendixes in his books. His latest being proposal for the creation of a National Poverty Eradication Commission to President Muhammadu Buhari which the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has already received and acknowledged.

I believe in cases where someone’s idea is utilised it is only fair to allow such an individuals a place to midwife their ideas before others are brought on board. It is in this light that I feel Mou was not fairly treated.

I have had cause to sit with colleagues from the academia and professionals trying to battle and dissect what the problems of Nigeria are. We query why Nigeria was not lucky in having ‘benevolent dictators’ like some countries in Asia and Latin America. Yes, most of the ‘benevolent dictators’ were corrupt, but they used the proceeds of corruption in a nationalistic sense. Does that, in any way, make corruption right? Absolutely not, but at least proceeds were invested in their countries.

Nigeria’s challenge is not the consideration of which party should govern us. We have seen how our politicians move from one party to the next because there are no political ideologies or conviction, only opportunism. These guys believe in nothing and will do anything for themselves and their interests. The electorate does not come into their thinking. The Nigerian political class – under whatever logo or affiliation – is the cause of our turbulence and loss of hope.

So how do we get rid of these people who portend to represent us? Should we insist for another system of government that is not as costly, does not project our differences and throws up only those who are answering the call to serve? This is the critical challenge before Nigerians who truly love Nigeria. We have capable Nigerians at home and abroad that can champion this alternative way.

But we first have to look ourselves eyeball to eyeball and ask deep questions. Do we really want to end corruption in this country? Is corruption embedded in our ‘DNA’ as some have suggested? From what can be deduced on ground it may appear that the average Nigerian does not want to end corruption, but languishes in the fatally false hope that he/she can participate in the banquet with a bit of patience. Hence, there is really no great desire for good government and the implied non-tolerance for corruption.

The duo of Mou and Abang-Wushishi were driven by a passion to make things work. Between then and now, the level of corruption has grown beyond comprehension.